


Hold Me

by sherlockonthebarricade



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Enjolras has nightmares, Enjoltaire cuddles, Grantaire comforts him, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 07:13:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6556876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlockonthebarricade/pseuds/sherlockonthebarricade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras suffers from very bad nightmares, and he hasn't slept properly in a month. Les Amis notice how terrible he looks- pale skin, slouching, the usual fire gone from his eyes- but nobody really realises what the problem is until they go camping for Éponine's 19th birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold Me

Enjolras suffered from very bad nightmares. He would constantly wake up in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat and shivering. It had got worse over the past few weeks, and he hadn't slept properly in a month. 

His friends had begun to notice how terrible he looked. The fire in his usually angry eyes had dimmed. His skin had gone pale and he walked and sat slouched. His brilliant mind had stopped spouting his thoughts on everything he deemed unfair. 

Nobody really realised what the problem was until they went camping for Éponine's 19th birthday. They had two tents, each with three two-man 'bedrooms', and Les Amis had figured out who was sleeping with who several weeks in advance. Combeferre and Courfeyrac, Jehan and Enjolras, Bahorel and Grantaire, Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta squeezing in together, Feuilly and Marius, and Azelma, Cosette and Éponine. 

When they arrived at the campsite, a remote little place in the forest where Cosette's father had taken her camping a lot as a child, they put up the tents (or at least Bahorel, Éponine, Musichetta and Grantaire did) and went out to collect wood for the fire. Enjolras was sat setting out his sleeping bag and the several blankets he'd brought, so he may at least be warm and comfortable while he lay awake that night.

"Hey, Enjolras?" It was Jehan. "There's something I need to tell you."  
"Go ahead." Enjolras smiled. Everyone had a soft spot for Jehan.  
"Well, you've probably noticed that recently Bahorel and I have been spending a lot more time together." Enjolras had not noticed. "We... We've been going out for a few weeks. We didn't want to tell everyone straight away, so we didn't ask when the tent plans were being made. But-"  
"Hang on, you and Bahorel?" He said, shocked.  
"Me and Bahorel, yes, Enjolras."  
"You and Bahorel." He repeated.  
"Yes, so, what I was going to ask is-"  
"You want me to swap with your new boyfriend so you two can be together?"  
"Well, actually, you don't have to move. I was just going to ask whether you'd mind terribly if I swapped."  
"Of course not, dear. Congratulations, by the way!"  
"Thank you! Rel is talking to Grantaire, I hope he won't mind swapping, or you're stuck with me."

Grantaire bustled in, backpack in one hand and guitar in the other. When he spotted Jehan, he engulfed them in a bear hug, congratulated them and shooed them of to be with their boyfriend.   
"Hiya, Apollo."  
"You know how much I hate that nickname, Grantaire." Enjolras made a point of using Grantaire's entire name, no shortening, no dropped T, no nickname. He nodded towards the guitar. "Are you really bringing that in here with us?"  
"Of course, gotta keep it warm, otherwise the strings will go all funny."  
"Fair enough. Do you need any help?"   
They began unpacking Grantaire's bedding and laying it out. Grantaire had thought maybe he should put his head at the opposite end to Enjolras, so as to not make him uncomfortable, but the other had already laid out both pillows at the same end.

In the evening, they sat toasting marshmallows around a roaring campfire. Grantaire got out his guitar and started plucking at the strings, and a few songs were sung, enthusiastically by some, and very unenthusiastically by others (namely Enjolras and Azelma). However, nobody protested when Cosette brought out a cake and starting singing 'Happy Birthday' to Éponine. 

When people finally started disappearing into their tents, Enjolras got increasingly nervous. He didn't want to tell Grantaire about the nightmares. He didn't want anyone to know.   
"You okay, Enj? You look sort of out of sorts."  
"Just a bit tired: nothing a good night's sleep can't fix."  
"Oh, okay. Goodnight, Apollo."  
"Night, Grantaire, sleep well."

Grantaire was woken by loud but shallow breathing. At first he thought it was just the wind, but then he rolled over to see Enjolras's chest rising and falling rapidly and beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He was mumbling and moaning unintelligibly, but he sounded scared, maybe even terrified. 

Grantaire shuffled over quickly, placing one hand over Enjolras's heart and shaking his shoulder a little. "Enjolras!" He whisper yelled, "Enjolras, wake up! Wake up, please, you're scaring me." He held Enjolras against his chest and hugged him tightly, hoping desperately that this wasn't anything harmful. "Shhh... Calm down, it's okay, shhh...." He began whispering, "shhh, Apollo, it's alright... I've got you, it's alright..." 

Enjolras seemed to calm down in Grantaire's arms. The terrified noises stopped, and his breathing evened out. Grantaire sat there holding him, not noticing when the shaking changed to quiet sobbing as the man in his arms woke up. Eventually, however, Grantaire did realise and released Enjolras from the embrace. 

"Enj, what happened?" He whispered loudly, scared and concerned.  
"I'm sorry," Enjolras choked out, "I should've told you earlier, then you wouldn't have had to worry." He paused, letting a few tears run down his face. "I've been having nightmares for ages. It's been getting worse."  
"You should've said, Enjolras! I could've helped."  
"You did help. You made it stop."

Enjolras's breathing quickened again, his expression of childlike fear turned to one of the utmost terror. He could hardly breathe. Grantaire, too, was terrified, fearing a Enjolras was having some sort of panic attack. 

"Enjolras, what's happening? What do I do? I don't know what to do!" He put his hand on Enjolras's shoulder, attempting to comfort him. Enjolras leant in, burying his head under Grantaire's chin, still shaking and sobbing. Between sharp and shaky breaths, he managed to cough out, "just... Hold me... Please."

He did. He held him tight, his arms wrapped firmly around the other man, clinging to him like his life depended on it. The steady beat of his heart calmed Enjolras down a little, but he still trembled and his breathing was still sharp and short. "Enjolras, I need you to breathe with me, alright? We're going to breathe in for four, hold it for four and then out of eight, okay? Can you do that for me?" Enjolras nodded shakily. "Alright, ready?" 

Enjolras eventually stopped shaking. He whispered something, barely audibly, that Grantaire didn't hear. He put his hand on Grantaire's cheek, turning his face to look at him. He opened his mouth to talk again but was interrupted.

"You're freezing, Enj!" Grantaire took the other's hands in his and held them tightly. "Sometimes, the warmest place to put your hands is your stomach." He went to press Enjolras's hands to his belly, but found that he was cold all over. 

"Enjolras?"   
"Yeah?"  
"You're going to be freezing, and I don't want you having another nightmare, so do you maybe want to sleep with me? My sleeping bag is big enough, we'd easily fit in together."  
"You'd let me? Are you sure?"  
"Of course! I don't want you freezing. Come here."

Grantaire put his arms around Enjolras again, picking him up and placing him in the sleeping bag. When he'd snuggled down, Grantaire found that Enjolras, despite his usual cold gaze, was actually very affectionate and cuddly. As soon as he was comfortable, a blond haired head nuzzled into his shoulder and an arm snaked it's way around his torso. 

Enjolras didn't have any more nightmares that night, but woke again in the morning having had the best night of sleep he'd had in three months. He didn't move, enjoying being in Grantaire's arms and not wanting to wake him so he'd move and stop cuddling him. Little did he know that Grantaire was doing the same thing.


End file.
